Black on White, an Unsightly Blemish
by Frankie and Avery.dont ask
Summary: Post-War, Snarry. After the horrors of the War, the displaced sixth year class have returned to Hogwarts. Only, Harry's come back to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, not be a student. Some of the High profile Death Eaters are still on the loose and Fudge is still in charge. Nothing is ever easy for Harry Potter, so why did he think this might be any different?
1. Arrival

**Hey guys. Long time no hear. I know I've been off the grid for a bit. I apologize for that. This wouldn't leave me alone though. I was promising myself I'd not get back into writing fanfiction and focus on my own stuff, but…I was reading Pushing the Limits by Vorabiza (who some of you might have guess is one of my top 5 fanfic writers ever) and this fun little plot bunny bit me and would not let go. **

**This I have this. It's a behemoth of a fragment. It has potential to turn into an actual fic. We'll see what happens.**

**Unbeta'd.**

**Pairing: Snarry **

**Setting: Post War, back-to-Hogwarts fic**

**Rating: a strong T or mild M for dark themes, language, slash.**

**Black on White, an Unsightly Blemish**

Harry stood in front of the High Table in Hogwarts' Great Hall, staring down at the students all filing in to take their seats. The first years would be crossing the lake now with Hagrid. He spotted Hermione's thick curls, Ron's mop of red hair towering above everyone around him, and the shock of Draco's white-blonde head. It was all so surreal for Harry. Seeing his friends, former classmates…well, all those who'd survived the war. He felt Colin Creevy's absence like a pain in his chest. He'd watched the boy get slaughtered and there had been nothing he could do. Seeing Ron and Ginny finally seated at the Gryffindor table conjured images of Charlie Weasley being felled by Lucius Malfoy. Harry thought he might be swallowed by his own grief.

Harry bowed his head, taking a moment to say a silent goodbye to all those who had been lost. He stiffened when he felt someone come up along side him. Glancing to his left, he saw Severus Snape looking out over the assembled group and relaxed. The grief washed away, leaving behind a mild melancholy. No one had noticed the two of them yet. "It will be an odd year for you, Harry… Well, odder than usual."

Harry nodded. "Do you think I can do it?"

Severus glanced at him and raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Feeling insecure, are we? I doubt very much that you need me extolling your virtues. I think that would send this experience quite into the realm of impossible."

Harry laughed and felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. "Shall we sit?"

Severus inclined his head and gestured for Harry to precede him. The two circled the High Table and sat: Harry next to Headmistress McGonagall with Severus on his other side.

"Professor Potter."

"Headmistress."

Minerva grinned at him. "Having doubts, my boy?"

Harry snorted. "Don't you start with that. It was bad enough from Albus."

Minerva laughed. "Alright, Harry. You shouldn't worry, you know. You are more than qualified and I have no doubt of your competency."

"But Minerva, two years ago, some of them were my peers and now I'm their professor! They'll never listen to me."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Harry, you are the hero of the war. I think that you can use some of those skills to control a classroom full of school children. You are an adult, regardless of your youth. Your former classmates are eighteen-year-old children. You have not been a child for a long time; you've only to show them that."

Harry sighed. "Thank you, Minerva. You were much more effective at addressing my worries than certain people." He shot a pointed look at Severus.

The potion's master raised his eyebrows. "I refuse to pander to the needless worry of a Gryffindor. You are a Slytherin; act like it."

Harry laughed and any remaining tension fled. "He is right. I need to use my Slytherin side for this."

Minerva looked confused. "Harry Potter, you are the consummate Gryffindor. What on earth are you talking about?"

Harry smirked. "I talked the hat into that decision. It wanted to place me in Slytherin, but I begged it not to. Thus am I a Gryffindor."

Minerva gapped at him. "That is the most Slytherin action I have ever heard."

Severus nodded sagely, scowling at the students. "Indeed. He should be a Slytherin, yet he is a Gryffindor and I am forced to put up with it. Only I would be saddled with such a thing."

Harry laughed again. "You love me for it, Sev." He crooned, grinning.

Severus sniffed and his lip curled, but he did not deny it. Minerva watched them with a twinkle in her that would have made Dumbledore jealous. "I did not realize that the two of you were in a romantic relationship."

Severus choked on air and Harry stuffed his fist in his mouth to quiet his raucous laughter. "I assure you, Minerva, there is absolutely _nothing_ romantic about my relationship, if you must call it that, with Potter."

Harry managed to get himself under control and his brow went skyward. "Oh, Potter, now am I? I was Harry last night."

Minerva coughed politely and Severus glared at him. "Shut. Up. You are causing a scene."

Harry turned and surveyed the hall again. They were indeed causing a scene, but not for their conversation. The students were too far away to hear it. It was Harry's presence at the High Table and the grin he was throwing in Severus' direction that was causing the scene.

"Oh, that's right! This lot think we still hate each other. I'd forgotten about that."

"Speak for yourself, Potter. I still hate you." Severus' tone, however, was distinctly sullen.

Harry laughed and shared a smile with Minerva. "So he says now. Later will be an entirely different story, when—"

"Potter, if you finish that sentence the way I think you are planning, I will skin you myself and use your internal organs for potion's ingredients."

Harry snapped his mouth shut and, after a moment, grinned again. "You realize that just makes it sound worse, don't you, Sev?"

"Do stop calling me that. Oh look, the first years. Joy."

Harry swallowed his laughter and sat patiently through the sorting ceremony as Aurora Sinistra read the names aloud. There were at least twenty more students than usual, because the school had been closed for the previous two years. There should have been more, but many of the pureblood families had sent their children to other schools overseas, getting them out of the country and away from the war. However, not all of the new students with muggleborns and half-bloods.

"Zabini, Brigid."

Harry frowned slightly at this, the final name. He leaned close to Severus and murmured, "I didn't realize that Blaise had a younger sister."

Severus sneered. "Yes. Same father, different mother. Blaise's mother is a black widow, but Carlus Zabini was the only one of her seven husbands, she did not kill. Why that is, I have no idea. He moved to Ireland and remarried. Brigid is his daughter by his second wife."

Harry nodded and turned back to the room. Minerva had stood and spread her hands. Everyone fell silent. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts." The room cheered. "We are immensely pleased to be able to welcome you all back this year, now that the war is over and Voldemort is truly dead." Another cheer. "I know those of you returning to us are accustomed to Headmaster Dumbledore's…eccentric style." A chuckle. Harry smiled sadly. "But I am not quite as eccentric as he was. I will make the start of term announcements before the feast, so that you will actually pay attention."

Harry snorted and Minerva shot him a look. "Firstly, as you all might have noticed, there is a very small number of what might be deemed eighth years sitting among you. I opened an invitation to any students who had missed their seventh year here, due to the closure of the school or other extenuating circumstances."

This was when Harry finally noticed Fred and George sitting in the crowd with Katie Bell. Now that he was looking, Harry also spotted Cho Chang sitting next Luna at the Ravenclaw table.

"These 'eighth years' will be mixing into the seventh year classes. Secondly, as headmistress, I find myself pressed for time. Which means I will only be teaching sixth and combined seventh/eighth year transfiguration for the coming year. Professor Sinistra has graciously agreed to take the first and second year students. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has agreed to take the third, fourth, and fifth years, as well as all the DADA classes." She paused and whispers spread like fiend-fyre across the hall. "I'd like, therefore, to introduce to you the newest member of our staff. Our newest Defense Professor, Mr. Harold Potter."

Harry stood gracefully, thankful that he hadn't knocked over his chair in the process. The entire hall was dead silent for a moment, before the whispers started again. Minerva smirked knowingly at him. "I believe you wished to say a few words, Harry."

Harry sighed and glowered at her for a moment. "I suppose." He turned back to the room, which was filled with the buzzing of hundreds of whispered conversations. He frowned for a moment and shook his head. "This isn't going to work."

He threw a saucy smirk at Minerva and vanished, immediately reappearing in front of the High Table. The room went still. She gaped at him and Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was under the impression that you were not going to reveal that special skill to anyone, Harry."

Harry laughed. "The war is over. What have I to fear now?" Severus looked up at him, his gaze flat. Harry rolled his eye. "Alright, fine. Too late now." He turned back to the students, who were staring wide-eyed. Hermione looked terribly affronted and appeared to be rummaging around in her bag, which was sitting on the bench next to her.

"Hermione, don't bother. _Hogwarts, A History_ hasn't changed its mind. It still says that you can't apparate inside the school. It wasn't apparation and no, I'm not teaching you how to do it." She looked, if anything more affronted, but Ron was grinning at him. "Jokes aside… Most of you here already know me or have, at least, heard of me. I'm Harry Potter."

Seamus yelled from his place next to Dean. "Where the bloody 'ell have you been for the past two years?"

Harry blinked, glancing back at Severus. "I have been winning the war, Seamus. Voldemort is dead and the war is over. Which is all you need to know about my activities for the time I was…out of the public eye, shall we say? However, some of you used to be my classmates and most of you used to be my peers. I presume that you are wondering how I ended up where I am."

There was a loud scoff from the Slytherin table and Pansy Parkinson sneered at him. "Do you honestly think _you_ can teach _us_ anything?" She asked, her voice meant to be high and biting.

Harry smirked. "Headmistress McGonagall obviously does, since she hired me. However, I was going to address that issue next. The reason I wanted to speak to you all before we get on with the announcements and the feast is just that. Many of you are wondering about my qualifications. So, I wanted you all to know that in the past few months, since Voldemort's death, I received a mastery in Defense and a second mastery in Enchantments. Who can tell me what that means?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air, but Luna also raised her hand. Harry smiled ruefully at Hermione and asked Luna to explain. "It's a combined mastery in Charms and Transfiguration. Most high level duelists get them, Harry."

Harry grinned. "Exactly, Luna. Thank you. So, that is why I am here to teach you lot, instead of sit with you. Any questions?"

Ron looked like he wanted to ask something, but Harry shot him a look. He subsided. Everyone else seemed to be staring at him in shock or disbelief.

He sighed and turned to go back to the High Table. Severus stood and glared down at everyone. "Professor Potter's masteries are a matter of public record. And should anyone have lingering doubts about his qualifications, there will be a practical demonstration tomorrow, immediately following luncheon." The room appeared stunned at his defense of Harry.

"Please, professor. What do you mean, a practical demonstration?" Hermione called nervously.

Severus turned to look at her. "I mean that Professor Potter and I will be engaging in both a formal and an informal duel tomorrow, here in the Great Hall. Does that clarify, Ms. Granger?" The last was said in harsh, clipped tones. Harry raised an eyebrow at him and he sneered back.

"Indeed." Minerva said, as Harry retook his seat. "Now, for those new to Hogwarts…"

Harry tuned her out and turned to Severus. "You didn't have to sound so…"

Severus arched a brow. "So? So like my usual self? Harry, we are back at Hogwarts. I am still the potions' master I was before the school closed. I do not intend to change."

Harry huffed out a breath. "No, I know. But that sounded harsh even for you."

Severus sneered. "I answered her question. What more do you want from me?"

Harry shrugged and flinched, when food appeared on the table before them. Severus looked vaguely concerned. "Harry, you need to get that under control."

Harry sighed. "I realize. It's just…I'm not used to sudden movements or appearances being benign, you know?"

Severus nodded once and turned to his own food. Once the meal was finished, Minerva stood again to give another set of instructions, this time to the first years.

"So," Harry said conversationally, leaning back in his chair. "How long do I have before Ron, Ginny, and Hermione accost me and demand answers?"

Severus eyed the students in question. "Five minutes, if you wish to be optimistic."

Harry sighed, standing and turning to lean against the table. "Can I come hid in your rooms?"

Severus snorted. "No, you may not. I will however accompany you to your own, if you wish me to assist with explanations."

Harry grinned. "You just don't want me giving things away."

Severus sighed dramatically. "You think so little of me." Which made Harry laugh.

"What exactly should I tell them?"

"You should tell us what you think you're doing and where you've been for the past two years." Hermione's voice said tightly from somewhere over his left shoulder.

Harry tensed automatically and his wand dropped out of its holster into his hand before he realized that he'd even moved. Severus reached out and snagged his wrist, bringing his attention to it. Harry took a deep breath, re-holstered his wand. Severus gently released him and he turned. Ginny, Neville, Luna, Cho, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione were all clustered in front of the High Table, gaping at Severus. Harry swallowed and laughed. "I'm sorry, guys. It's really not a good idea to come up behind me like that. Severus was just attempting to prevent… an incident. I tend to curse first and ask questions later. Souvenir of the war, I suppose."

Hermione shook herself first. "Thank you, then, Professor Snape. Harry, I want an explanation."

Harry sighed. "You'll get at least some of one. Why don't we all have a chat in my rooms? Severus?"

"I already offered, Harry. No need to ask."

Harry smiled down at him. "Thanks."

Severus stood and led the way out of the Great Hall. Harry's friends trailed behind, mouths agape.

Harry's rooms were in the dungeons, to everyone else's horror. The painting hanging over the entrance was a landscape, causing Hermione to frown. Harry touched it with his wand and it swung open. He motioned everyone in. The living room reminded the Gryffindors of their common room, though much smaller. It had the same large fireplace and overstuffed furniture, only in grey instead of red and gold. A desk stood in the corner, tucked into overstuffed bookshelves. Severus raised an eyebrow. "At least, it is not red...or gold."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're keyed into the painting, by the way. In case I forgot to mention."

Severus inclined his head and disappeared into the kitchen. Harry motioned for everyone to be seated.

Fred and George plopped down on the carpet. Neville took one of the armchairs and pulled Ginny down onto his lap. Ron took the matching one and pulled Luna down with him. She seemed quite content with the arrangement. Hermione and Cho curled up close together at the end of the sofa. Harry stared, dumbfounded. "Clearly, I missed some things."

Hermione glared at him. "Clearly."

Harry sighed, feeling the tension that had knotted his stomach before the sorting come back with a vengeance. He sat heavily on the sofa and put his head in his hands. There was complete stillness, until he felt a hand on the back of his neck and a teacup appeared in front of him. He turned to smile gratefully at Severus, who snorted and pursed his lips. "You will tell them as much as you are able. You will not tell them everything. There is a book in the training room in which I wish to check a reference. I will return shortly."

"Thank you, Sev."

Ignoring the nickname, Severus nodded and left without acknowledging anyone else. Harry drank his tea, before looking up, knowing that Severus had probably put a calming draught in it. When he did look up, almost everyone was staring at him in horror. Fred and George however were grinning broadly. "So, Harry, how long have you been shagging the Potions' Master?"

Harry gaped at them. "You…How…Oh sweet Merlin."

Ron's expression was now even more horrified than it was a moment before. "You are actually having sex with SNAPE?"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fight off a headache. "Ron, the training room is just down the hall. I'm sure he can hear you."

Ron paled and looked in terror at the door that Severus had disappeared through. Harry chuckled, when Ron looked back at him. Harry turned a sharp eye on the twins. "You realize that he is going to kill me for this and likely you as well."

Both twins looked stunned. "You mean, you actually are shagging Snape?"

Harry looked shifty. "I can't say because he made me swear not to tell you. Even though, we aren't anymore."

Hermione let out an annoyed breath and Cho wrapped an arm around her waist. "As…disturbing as this is, it's also not important or even remotely what we came here for. Harry?"

"Yes, alright. I disappeared when the school closed two years ago and you are all pissed about it. I understand that. Just… Sixth year was…hell, actually. What with 'remedial potions' being in reality intense training in Occulmency and Defense. And Dumbledore giving me a crash course in how to kill Dark Lords. Hermione, Ron? You remember what I told you about how Voldemort tried to become immortal?" The two nodded, eyes wide. "Well, I got all that and a prophecy, that said that I was the only one who could kill Voldemort, that year. And then when Voldemort attacked the school at the end of the year and the wards fell… Well, I stood against him with everyone else. Or tried to. When Dumbledore died and the school locked itself, I was the only one still inside. Or rather back inside. I'd gone in to get Gryffindor's sword. I have no idea why Hogwarts did that and Minerva doesn't either, but it protected us from Voldemort, because he was terrified. He'd never heard of that happening before and that's the reason he pulled out of the fight and took his Death Eaters with him. Crabbe and Goyle died fighting their own parents that day and a lot of other innocent people died as well. It…It made me realize that I had to do something. I couldn't just…stay in school and do nothing like I had been. I managed to escape through the Chamber of Secrets. I hunted down Severus and begged him to teach me. Everything…Anything that would help me kill Snakeface."

Harry paused, staring into the fire. He had no idea how he was going to explain where he'd disappeared off to, without telling them what he'd done.

Fred was grinning at him. He frowned back. "So, how'd shagging help you defeat Voldemort, huh?"

Harry gaped at him. Neville reached down and whacked him in the head. "Now is not the time, guys. Tease him about it later…preferably when Professor Snape is not down the hall."

"Professor Snape is not down the hall now and he is wondering why exactly it is that Mr. Weasley asked you that, Potter?"

Harry cringed. "I…um…they guessed?"

"They. Guessed."

Harry turned to raise a sardonic eyebrow at the older man. "Yes. Apparently casual touches, tea, and nicknames automatically mean that we're shagging."

Severus massaged his temples. "I will regret that until the day I die, won't I?"

Harry grinned cheekily at him, though the idea that Severus regretted what they had was like a knife between his ribs. "Which time?"

Several of his friends gasped at his cheeky response. Harry laughed, helplessly at the absurdity of his life because he damn well wasn't going to let anyone see him cry.

Severus glowered at him. "Do you wish me to shock them further by telling them how many times?"

Harry shrugged, trying to control his laughter. "You counted? Of course, you did." He finally managed to swallow his chuckles before they got hysterical. "You realize if you do tell them, it will be only yourself that you are embarrassing? Since I don't care if they know how many times you fucked me or how many times I fucked you."

"Don't be vulgar, Potter."

"Still Potter, am I? Huh. Well, come help me figure out what exactly I am able to explain about the two years I was missing."

Severus stepped into the room from his place in the doorway, glaring at them all, and took a seat next to Harry on the couch. Harry moved closer to Hermione and Cho to make room. Severus took a moment to survey the room. He blinked when his eyes landed on Ron and Luna. "That is…unexpected."

Harry laughed. "I know what you mean." He paused. "Severus, I know that you think I shouldn't tell them about…" He waved his hand vaguely. "But I think it would be a good thing. I should have brought this up earlier, but it only just occurred to me that Lucius, Bellatrix, and the rest are still free. If…something comes up, they might be able to help. Cover for me."

Severus stood and paced to the fireplace, scattering Fred and George as he went. Harry opened his mouth to speak again, but Severus raised a hand. Several quiet minutes passed. "Perhaps you are correct. If…something should arise, I would not be here to cover for you, but one of them might prove useful in making excuses."

"So I can tell them then?"

Severus nodded, but did not turned from the fireplace. Harry looked around at his friends, who were all staring back at him worriedly.

"Guys…I went to Severus to ask for help training. He gave it to me. I trained with him for six months, before…an idea began to form. There was information I need, desperately needed, before I could kill the Dark Lord." Ginny and Ron frowned at this. "I needed to get inside his inner circle. I could only think of one…okay, well two ways to do it, but…"

Severus spun around glaring. "There was never any chance that you could actually convince anyone. Polyjuicing yourself into me was an idiotic idea from the moment you suggested it. Kindly stop bringing it up." He moved to the desk and leaned against it, glaring at them all.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I realize that. But it's the truth. Obviously, that wasn't feasible. However, turning myself into a stranger and pledging myself to Voldemort as a loyal follower was."

Hermione gasped. "No! Harry…you didn't."

Harry stood and paced to the fireplace. "Yes, Hermione. I did. There was no other way. Voldemort spoke to Nagini sometimes, telling her things. He also gloated beyond all endurance to his inner circle, but they were all bound not to share the things his said when they were in his inner sanctum. Wizard's Oath. If I could infiltrate the inner circle, I could hear the things he said. I wouldn't need to tell anyone, but I was the one who needed the information."

Horror was dawning on Ginny's and Cho's faces now. Luna looked fascinated.

"Harry, you didn't…please tell me…" Ginny looked only minutes away from crying.

Harry drew in a deep breath. He shrugged the grey, tailor-made robes off his shoulders and undid the cufflink on his left sleeve. Everyone in the room seemed frozen. Only Harry moved, rolling up his sleeve to the elbow. On his forearm, black and ugly and standing out harshly against the paleness of his skin was the Dark Mark. Harry looked away from it, even as he showed the others.

Ginny did begin to cry, so did Hermione. Cho, Ron, and Neville looked like they might be sick, but the twins were looking at him in awe.

"I became a Death Eater and Voldemort marked me…again. I haven't been able to get rid of it. I-I tried…for weeks I fucking tried, but nothing works. I…I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life. This hideous thing. I could feel it, like evil eating its way into my skin." Severus stood as Harry spoke and moved across the room. Harry didn't seem to notice. "It's what I deserve though. Remind me of all the horrible things I've done. All—"

"Potter!" Severus' voice was sharp. Harry jerked and looked up at him through glassy eyes. Severus' expression softened. "You succeeded. You killed that bastard. It was worth it. Everything you've done, everything you've been through. It was all entirely worth it, because you're free now. You've clawed your way out from under the burdens that were heaped upon your shoulders and you've freed us all." He murmured as he snagged Harry's chin between his fingers and tilted his face up. Their eyes met. After a moment, Harry offered him a watery smile. Severus sighed. "You will destroy any credibility or reputation I have left." He muttered almost to himself before leaning down and kissing Harry firmly on the mouth.

Harry brought his hands up to clutch at the taller man's robes, clinging to him desperately as everyone else gaped. A moment passed before Snape pushed Harry away. "Now. Go. Clean up and I will explain to these little heathens as much as they should know." Harry looked about to protest. "I will refrain from using them for potions' ingredients, but more than that, I will not promise. Go. Or do you wish me to repeat myself?"

Harry's eyes widened marginally. "No! No need for that. I'll be back in a moment."

He turned, without looking at any of his friends, and left the room. Severus frowned after him, then seemed to remember that he was not alone. Sneering down at the twins, he motioned them onto the couch. They complied. He smirked. "I am almost tempted actually to address you as Gred and Forge, merely to avoid having to differentiate. You are close enough to a single unit already."

The twins gaped at him. Severus snorted. "Yes, Potter did relate that story to me. All right. I will attempt a more…coherent narrative for you than he has so far provided."

He turned to stare into the fire for a moment. Hermione looked ready to burst with questions, but she managed to retrain herself until he began speaking.

"After the Founder's Battle, after Dumbledore fell and Harry was trapped inside Hogwarts…Though not entirely alone as he might think. I know of at least two others who were likewise trapped within the castle, though it was sealed to protect him specifically. After he managed to escape. He came in search of me. As he said, we'd been training intensively for almost a year at that point. In defense especially, but I taught him spells that would fall under transfiguration and charms. Anything a career duelist would learn. When he found me, his occulmency skills had almost reached acceptable levels, always a skill with which he had extreme difficulty. The first week he stayed with me, we did nothing but eat, sleep, and occlude. I refused to teach him anything at all, unless his skills at Occulmency exceeded my own skills in Legilimency. When he reached that point, I was willing to entertain the possibility of other things, like Defense or the Dark Arts. He demanded that I teach him the Dark Arts."

Ron looked indignant and Neville looked upset. Hermione frowned and asked, "Why? Why would he do that?"

Severus looked down his nose at her. "Because, Ms. Granger, he wished to know his enemy. To be able to recognize the spells thrown at him so he might be able to make split decisions in battle. If a spell's effects were slow moving and there was a counter, he might allow it to hit him, should that in turn enable him to strike back. He would then know which spells absolutely needed to be avoided. Also, because it helped him understand his enemy's magic: the way it work, the way it felt. Learning the weapons you are fighting against is a wise move, should you wish to remain alive in a war and actually win."

"But, sir, couldn't he go Dark that way?" Ginny asked, her tone carefully neutral, as though she were merely seeking information.

Severus glanced at her through narrowed eyes. "Miss Weasley, I would expect a pureblood, like yourself, to understand inherent magic better than that. Having grown up in an old wizarding family, I should have thought that your parents would have taught you more about the way magic works. Theory that they regrettably do not teach here."

Ginny shook her head, but Ron answered. "No, Professor. Mum and Dad taught us the history, but never any theory."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. "Fine. The categories of Light and Dark wizard are completely arbitrary and contrived entirely by mankind so as to fit people into neat boxes. Magic itself can be considered Light, Dark, or Grey depending on the intent of the caster and the inherent make up of the spell. For example, the Unforgivables were originally healing spells. The Imperius was often used one to exercise people in a state of perpetual unconsciousness or comma, so that their muscles would not atrophy. The Cruciatus curse was original meant merely to deaden all the nerve endings of the body. It was modified to warm the skin for hypothermia and eventually became what it is today. One is still in its original, Light Magic, form though it is used for evil and the other has been modified into something inherently Dark. A wizard who performs only Dark magic is still merely a wizard. Their own magic is not effected, though there is a very good chance that that wizard is evil himself. Do you understand?"

They nodded and Hermione looked fascinated. "Good, because I have no interest in explaining further what half the first years already know."

"We spent five months training like this. He had already surpassed seventh year course work by the Founder's Battle in several of the classes offered here, though he took pains the conceal it. By the end of this training period, he was at the level of career duelist and well past mastery. By the time the sixth month began, I had taught him all the pertinent spells I was then capable of casting and several I knew but could not cast myself. His raw power far exceeds my own. Actually his raw power far exceeds that of any living person on this planet and most deceased persons as well." They were all wide-eyed. "Harry Potter has more raw power right now than Albus Dumbledore did at his absolute peak and Harry's magic should not peak for another several decades… When we had reached the extent of my knowledge, we began researching spells and learning them together. This continued for a month or so, before he approached me with a proposition."

Fred grinned wolfishly at Severus, who sneered back. "He propositioned you, did he?"

"Yes. I did."

Everyone turned to see Harry in the doorway. The sleeves of his black dress shirt were still rolled up, but the Dark Mark was no longer visible on his arm. Severus examined him carefully for a brief moment and seemed satisfied. "Harry, it is unkind to imply things that are untrue."

Harry snorted and came into the room. "Well, you'd know, wouldn't you?"

Neville gasped and looked fearfully at the potions' master. Severus pursed his lips and looked away. Harry sighed. "Oh, Sev. I didn't mean it like that. Just…never mind. Yes, Fred, I did proposition him, but that came months later. Our student/teacher relationship had well ended and we were equals for quite a long time by then. But, I'm sorry for interrupting, Severus, I know how much you dislike it. Please continue." Harry took the chair at the desk, spun it around to sit facing the group.

Severus huffed out a breath through his nose. "Yes, well. What he proposed was absurd and I dismissed it immediately. I refused to be responsible for allowing the Gryffindor Golden Boy, Hero of the Wizarding World, to become a marked Death Eater." He glared at Harry over the twins' heads.

"I still think that you were convinced that Albus would come back to haunt you for it. And I have never been any of that shit. Nor the Saviour, nor the Chosen One, nor any of the other titles I've been given."

"Ah, but you are quite wrong there. You are the Boy Who Lived and kept on bloody living." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Alright, the Man-Who-Lived, now I suppose. Though you will recall that the Dark Lord himself once referred to you as the, quote, Bloody Boy Who Wouldn't Damn Well Die, end quote." Harry snorted and Severus continued. "You are also the Chosen One, because it was never Mr. Longbottom in any of those situations, was it?"

Neville squeaked and went pale. "What?"

Harry frowned. "That's right. Neville, your birthday is the 30th of July. You might have been the Boy Who Lived, if the Dark Lord hadn't chosen me. Huh."

Severus spoke quickly, before anyone could question this. "It took him two weeks to convince me of both the viability and necessity of his mad plan. He needed information that only the Dark Lord himself could share and he had hopes of overhearing something important, as he said. Another three months after that, I spent teaching him how to be a Death Eater, a most distasteful undertaking. He took on the guise of a pureblood wizard, distant relative of the Black line who had been on the continent for school. This gave him access to the homes and minds of the inner circle, who were, excluding myself, all purebloods. It took another six months before the Dark Lord accepted him into his inner circle, a remarkably short time."

Cho frowned and craned her neck to look at Harry. "Why so short, though?"

He returned her gaze with a flat look of his own. "Because I intrigued him."

"Harry had managed, before his induction into the ranks…to withstand prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus curse and as you are all aware, he is not affected by the Imperius. This caught the Dark Lord's attention and eventually he tested Harry against his best."

"Who was his best?" Ginny was leaning forward a little, obviously engrossed.

"Me." Severus smirked. "And Lucius Malfoy. We were his generals, if you will. Harry had already defeated all the rest of the inner circle, except Bellatrix Lestrange. The Dark Lord never forced anyone to duel with her."

"And bloody good thing. She kills anything she points her wand at. Batshit."

"Indeed. Yes, Bella was…rather strongly effected by her rather lengthy stay in Azkaban's high security cells. There was madness in her before she was sent there, but by the time she escaped, there was nothing but madness remaining."

Harry nodded at that, a haunted look in his eyes. He purposefully did not look at Neville. Severus had just opened his mouth to continue when a soft knock came at the door. Harry shot a frown at Severus, who shook his head. He had no idea who would be knocking this late on the first night.

Harry rose and went to the door. Placing a hand flat against the wood, he closed his eyes briefly. "Oh." He smiled and moved to open the door.

"Harry, is Severus there with you?" Draco Malfoy's lazy drawl entered the room before he did.

"Nice to see you too, Draco. Do come in why don't you." Harry said sardonically, as Draco passed him.

Draco threw a smirk at him over his shoulder. He turned back into the room and stopped abruptly. "Ew. Gryffindors."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Play nice, Draco. Remember, I'm a Gryffindor as well."

Severus snorted. "Yes, something I attempt to forget regularly."

Harry sneered at him playfully. "Is that what let's you sleep at night? Telling yourself that I'm a Slytherin?"

Severus glowered at him. "You are a Slytherin, Potter. Probably the most Slytherin of us all." Harry stuck his tongue out and pouted. "The majority of the time."

The rest of the room was watching this interplay like a tennis match. Harry rolled his eyes again. "Oh sod off. Draco, you will be nice to the Gryffindors…or at least civil or I will un-key you from my wards. Are we clear?"

Draco looked at Harry pleadingly for a moment, before sighing. "Yes, alright. I'll be…civil then. I suppose I should say hello."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that is generally the simplistic form of greeting for non-Slytherins."

Draco stepped further into the room and eyed the group of students. "Hello, you lot. Oh, look. Non-Gryffindors. Excellent." He half-grinned when he noticed Luna and Cho. Ron gaped at him. Neville looked bemused, but the rest were too stunned to respond.

Harry sighed. "Did you need me…us for something?"

Draco turned back to him and shrugged. "I wanted to know if Sev…um…Professor Snape was going to be speaking with the first years, because they're all looking like they're about to drop."

"Blast." Everyone turned to stare at Severus. "I'd forgotten it was…Bugger. Yes. I am. If you are remaining, I do not want to hear about _any_ kind of altercation whatsoever. Understood?" He glared around at everyone, including Harry.

Draco nodded and Severus swept out. Harry chuckled as the hem of Severus' robes whipped around the corner. "At least he doesn't have far to go. I'm the next corridor over from the Slytherin Common room."

Draco looked horrified by this comment. "You can't tell them that! Gryffindors aren't supposed to know where our common room is!"

Harry laughed. "Draco, I already told you about the Polyjuice incident. Hermione, Ron, and I have known where your common room is since second year. Get over it."

Draco huffed and turned back to the group of students. His eyes swept over Harry and he stopped dead. He stared in shock at Harry's left forearm. Harry smirked. "Yes, I've finally developed a cosmetic spell that produces actual muggle-style foundation to cover the blasted thing. It's water-proof and can't be gotten rid of by a finite. I'll teach it to you sometime, if you want?"

Draco looked back up at him. He blinked. "Fuck. You genius."

Harry grinned. "It helped that the magic's gone out of it, since he's dead."

Draco snorted. "Yes, Professor Potter. Please teach me?"

Harry laughed. "Oh shut up, you git."

Surprisingly, it was Luna that reminded them that they weren't alone. "Harry, when did you stop hating Draco?"

Harry turned, looking bemused. "Oh…um…a year-ish ago?"

Harry conjured another chair and motioned Draco into it. He enlarged the couch and sat between the twins. Both grinned down at him. "He came to Severus for sanctuary and found me there. We had a screaming row, which Severus was content to sit back and watch, the git. After a couple hours, we both simply gave up."

"Or our voices gave out from the continual screaming." Draco pointed out.

"Or that." Harry confirmed, ruefully. "But, eventually we learned to work together. He helped with the pureblood training, as Severus is a half-blood and doesn't know all of their traditions. His mother was a pureblood named Prince, but his father was a muggle. At some point, working together became hanging out together and we became friends."

"Speak for yourself, Potter. I still hate you." It was a sad imitation of the Slytherin's old venomous tones.

Harry laughed. "Severus said the same not three hours ago. Anyway, there really isn't much more to tell, about anything. Severus was right. Taking the Mark was worth it because it gave me the information I needed to kill that bastard. It was horrible and terrifying and I will probably feel dirty for the rest of my life because of some of the things I've done, but it was worth it in the end."

They sat in silence for a moment, letting Harry get himself back under control.

George was grinning at him wickedly. "So when did you start sleeping with our dear Potions' Master?"

Harry grinned. "That's for me to know and you never to find out."

"So, Harry, how is dear Severus in bed? I've never gotten the chance to ask." Draco drawled lazily, slouching back into his chair.

Harry opened his mouth to speak and Hermione looked scandalized. "Harry! You're not going to answer that, are you? You shouldn't talk about a teacher's…Oh Merlin! Harry, you had sex with a teacher!"

Harry burst out laughing as everyone else turned to look at her. "Just figured that out, did you? How about this, though: Hermione, I am a teacher." Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in absolute horror. "Yes, love. You've been sitting around all night in a teacher's chambers listening to two teacher's discuss their sex lives, among other things."

She looked like she was going to be sick and everyone else laughed. "Harry…Oh no! We're going to have to call you Professor Potter now, aren't we?"

Harry smiled. "Well, yes. But I've keyed you all into the wards, so come visit any time. You don't have to call me Professor Potter in here, unless for some unforeseen reason there is a younger year here. Though I'm not anyone's head of house, so I don't know why there would be."

She nodded weakly and Cho tightened her arms around the frizzy-haired Gryffindor.

There were several minutes of silence as the students attempted to assimilate all the things Harry and Severus had told them. Suddenly, Fred sat up and turned to eye Harry. Harry looked at him warily. "What?"

"You never answered Malfoy's question. Is Snape a good shag?"

A smug smirk curled the corners of Harry's mouth. He lounged back into the seat.

"Yes, by all means, Harry. Tell a large group of my seventh year students your opinion of my sexual skills." Severus' voice, dripping with sarcasm, startled everyone.

He was standing in the chambers' doorway glaring at them all. Draco turned bright red, staring in horror. "Mr. Malfoy, I do believe you just earned yourself a detention with that question of yours. You will be serving it Monday evening with me, accompanied by these two cretins." He gestured to the twins. "The only reason, Mr. Potter, that you will avoid punishment is because you didn't answer."

"It certainly wouldn't have been a bad answer, by any stretch. But I'm not a student anymore, Sev. You can't give me detention." Harry had turned and leaned over the back of the couch.

Severus stalked forward. "Oh, but I think you find that I can. My first set of first year detentions will be assigned to you."

Harry groaned. "Fine, if you're going to give me detention anyway, I'll just tell them that you're the—" Harry stopped talking as he ducked under a silencing hex. "best shag I've had."

"You'll be getting all my first year detentions for the next month, Potter."

"Damn."

The rest of the group was looking at Severus with a whole new level of respect. Severus noticed this and frowned around at them. "Why are you looking at me that way? It is not as though that were a ringing endorsement."

Ron snorted. Severus glared at him. He paled, but didn't look away. "Actually, Professor, Harry had something of a reputation back in sixth year."

Severus pursed his lips and turned to glare at Harry, who flushed scarlet and refused to meet his eyes. "A reputation."

Ginny grinned at Harry and nodded. "Yes, a reputation. Four of the people in this room are his exes."

Severus' expression went blank. "Four."

"Me, Ginny, Luna, and Cho." Fred chimed in.

Harry looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. "I'm sorry." He squeaked, still not looking at Severus.

"You lying, manipulative little bastard. Just how many exes do you have?" Severus' eye narrowed.

"Um…" Harry tried to count quickly in his head. "If we aren't counting you? Er…thirteen? Maybe?"

Neville snorted this time. "Try twenty-two, Harry."

Harry shot him a dark look. "Traitor."

"Twenty. Two. You've fucked twenty-two people."

Harry's head jerked up. "No! Absolutely not. I never had sex with Ginny or Cho or…Okay, I'm not going to name any other names, but half the people I dated, I never had sex with."

Severus snorted darkly. "So you did sleep with Miss Lovegood and Mr. Weasley here." He gestured at the twins.

"Um…"

Fred grinned and slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Harry, lover, you really are a horrible liar sometimes. However did you get away with pretending to be someone else?"

Harry groaned and dropped his head onto the couch. "But I don't want to lie. And I never lied about this. You just never asked the right questions. When I told you I'd never been fucked before, that was true. You never asked about the other way 'round."

Everyone in the room turned to Fred, who was now beet red. "Gee, thanks, Harry. Tell the whole school I bottomed for you, why don't you."

Harry flushed darker and looked sheepish. "Er…sorry?" He glanced back at Severus, whose expression was blank again. "Can we not have this conversation with an audience, please? You can murder me when they leave, if you want."

Draco laughed. "He's not going to murder you. He's in awe of your Slytherin-ness and he's trying to figure out how he made the mistake of taking you at face-value."

Harry frowned and glanced back at Severus. "Is that true?"

Severus sighed and his expression grew rueful. "I knew you were more Slytherin than Gryffindor by then, and yet somehow I still allowed you to convince me that you were a noble, and mostly innocent Gryffindor. Which in hindsight is more appalling than the alternative, actually." He scowled again. "That is as it maybe, however… Curfew is in twenty minutes."

The students all scrambled to leave. Harry smiled at them as they exited, offering a half-hearted 'See you tomorrow'.

He turned to Severus once the portrait shut. "Why did you continue that so far? You didn't want me telling them anything and then you go and basically tell them that I convinced you I was a virgin. Which is a lie, by the way. You knew I'd had sex before."

Severus sneered at him. "Indeed. I had been under the impression that you had had one partner, preceding me and that it was a female."

Harry frowned at him. "Seriously? I honestly didn't mean to give that impression. I figured you'd heard about some of my…er…exes and didn't really care. I just never mentioned it because I wasn't sure how many of them you knew about and I didn't want you to think I was a whore."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Harry, by the time you were sixteen you had slept with eleven people."

Harry exhaled, closing his eyes and slumping back into the couch. "Lovely. So you do think I'm a whore. At least now you have a valid reason not to want to be with me again."

Severus sighed and moved around the couch to stand in front of Harry. "Potter, stop sulking. It's childish. I do not think you are a whore. Merely much more experienced than I believed. It explains several things. We have had this conversation. I will not have it again and I will not sleep with you again."

Harry stiffened. Standing, he turned away from Severus. "Fuck you, Severus. Get out of my rooms."

Severus sighed and made an abortive move to reach out. "Harry…"

"No. You don't want _me_ and you never will. And now you know about all the others. Whatever. I get it. Just go the fuck away, would you?" Holding himself rigid, as though he thought he might shatter, Harry left Severus staring after him open-mouthed. Down the hallway, the bedroom door slammed.

Severus swallowed thickly and massaged his temples. Harry was a determined little bugger, but his sense of self-worth was extremely irritating. Harry was young and vibrant, the hero of the Wizarding World. He could literally take his pick of partners of either gender. In fact, if he wanted more than one partner, Severus did not think Harry would have any difficulty finding men or women who were willing. Why he believed that he should be content with…well, someone as broken as Severus, he did not understand. Sighing, he turned and left the room.


	2. Demonstration

**Okay, so obviously, I couldn't help myself. I split this properly into chapters. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. I have some ideas, but I'd love to hear what you think. So if you have any ideas, please feel free to drop me a message/review. I love to hear from you. :D**

**Also, I've decided to ignore canon/convention and make Blaise Zabini a girl. Deal. ;)**

**I wanted to thank everyone for reading. I really to appreciate it :)**

**I'm just going to address a couple of the things that were brought up in the review for the first section, that I think several people might be wondering:**

**Some of the basis of the story (Harry teaching his peers. Harry was a Death Eater) was borrowed from Pushing the Limits by Vorabiza. This is an unfinished/abandoned fic that you can only read (as far as I know) if you are a member of her Yahoo group. I took the most basic idea there and changed it to suit my purpose and also because I wanted to actually have Harry marked. I think that's a terribly intriguing idea (If anyone knows of other fics where Harry is marked but not evil, drop me a line). **

**Black on White, An Unsightly Blemish**

**Chapter 2**

Harry allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in the following morning, though he missed breakfast. He'd gone to bed with a splitting headache, after his fight with Severus. When he made it to the Great Hall for lunch, Severus was already sitting at the High Table. Harry sighed and made his way slowly up the center isle, ignoring the whispers and greetings. Severus looked up at him briefly, but his face was blank.

Harry stopped next to his chair and looked down at him. "Sev, I don't want to argue with you. I'm sorry about last night. I…I shouldn't have said some of what I did. My choices were my own and no fault of yours. I don't want to…" His voice broke slightly, but he stumbled on. "I can't…I'm just…I'm sorry."

Severus' expression softened. He gestured the former Gryffindor into the chair beside him. They sat in peace for several moments as Harry put food on his plate, before Severus spoke. "You merely wished to appease me, before our duels this afternoon."

The tension fled Harry's shoulders and he grinned in relief. "Yes, you've discovered my hidden motivation. Speaking of that, will it be formal first?"

"Of course it will. Foolish question."

The former Gryffindor rolled his eyes. "For the informal duel," Harry said around a mouth full of chicken. "has Minerva given us any guidelines?"

"Yes, I have." Minerva spoke from Harry's other side and he turned to her, not realizing that she'd sat down. "You are forbidden from using the Unforgivables and any high level Dark curses."

Harry nodded at that. "Alright, I suppose the Cruciatus thing would give away the game, wouldn't it?" He asked quietly, smirking.

Severus sighed. "I retract what I said last evening. You are still a foolish Gryffindor at heart. Stop acting rashly and keep your mouth shut. The Dark Lord is dead, but not all the danger has passed. As I believed you were well aware." He looked pointedly at the Slytherin table.

Harry followed his gaze to see Theodore Nott glaring daggers at him. He blinked and tried to remember if Nott's father was one of the inner circle who escaped. He was. Damn. He'd need to take special care not to let his alternate persona bleed through.

"Aright, You win. I'll shut up." Severus nodded.

When the meal had ended, Minerva rose and addressed the school. "As Professor Snape informed you yesterday evening, we will now have a practical demonstration of Professor Potter's competency to teach his courses and of his skill in Defense. If you would stand aside, I will take care of the tables." The students got up hurriedly and moved aside. Minerva waved her wand and all the tables vanished. Contraptions that looked remarkably like muggle bleachers appear against the walls. All the students took seats. Minerva turned back to Harry. "The Board of Governors are in the next room. Do not begin until they are settled."

Harry nodded and glanced at Severus. Minerva went to retrieve the Board and Harry stood. "I didn't know the Board would be here for this." He commented.

Severus eyed him. "Does that…disturb you?"

Harry snorted. "Not in the least. I'm curious to see who's on it this year. Do you know?"

Severus rose as well and shrugged out of his over-robes, which he draped over his chair. "Several members that you might be familiar with from previous years. Of the new members, the only person I have been introduced to is Luna Lovegood's father."

Harry frowned. "Xenophilius? But isn't he busy with the _Quibbler_?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I had not realizes that you'd met the man."

Harry shrugged. "He was at Bill Weasley's wedding. He introduced himself."

Severus sneered. "Ah yes, that horribly-timed party that Molly threw in the middle of a war. Christmas of your sixth year, I believe?"

Harry nodded and his gaze was caught by the Board of Governors, who were following Minerva back into the room. Harry drew his wand and made the High Table longer to accommodate them. Minerva nodded her thanks.

Luna's father broke from the group and came much too far into Harry's personal space, to greet him. "Mr. Potter, I was so pleased to hear that a friend of Luna's was teaching Defense. Should you need anything, I am at your service. Another newspaper article, perhaps?"

Harry laughed tightly and leaned back away from the man. He reminded Harry of Luna. Neither of them understood personal boundaries, but in Luna it was endearing. In her father, it was uncomfortable. "Thank you, Xenophilius."

Severus took a step forward, drawing himself to his full height. At six foot four, he towered over both of them. "Mr. Lovegood, while I am sure Professor Potter appreciates your support, we wish to begin. Please take your seat." His voice was cold.

The blond man didn't seem to notice. He nodded and grinned down at Harry before taking his seat at the other end of the table. Harry sagged a little against the table. "I know he means well and all, but he always stands too close to everyone."

Severus scowled. "That was normal?"

Harry nodded. "He doesn't really get personal space, as far as I can tell."

Severus raised an eyebrow at this. Harry shrugged and looked to Minerva. She seemed to be deep in a heated conversation with an older woman whom Harry had never met.

Harry shot Severus a glance and made his way down the table. "Pardon. Minerva? Are we almost ready to begin?"

The Headmistress turned to him and smiled tightly, her mouth pinched. "Ah, Harry, I'd like to introduce you to Madame Helena Hopkirk. Helena, this is Harry Potter, the man who killed Voldemort."

Harry glanced sharply at Minerva, missing the old woman's flinch, but extended his hand with a smile. "So pleased to meet you, Madame."

The woman huffed indigently, glancing down at his hand as though it were tainted. "Indeed. What gives you the right to teach at this school, boy? I don't care who you claim to be. You are a child and your classmates are out there." She gestured to the crowd with a be-ringed hand.

Harry narrowed his eyes and, dropping his hand back to his side, straightened his spine. Severus shot a worried look at Minerva. Harry did not like being addressed in that manner. Bad things tended to happen to people who did that.

"Madame, if you would kindly take your seat and stop arguing with our esteemed Headmistress, Severus and I would be delighted to show you exactly why I am a professor and not a student at this school." Harry took a step back and his narrowed eyes swept the people sitting at the High Table. His gaze lit on a portly man in a bowler hat. "Minister, so pleased to see you again. I trust there hasn't been any trouble lately? Have the DMLE found any of the remaining fugitives?"

Cornelius Fudge beamed at being spoken to directly by the Hero of the Wizarding World. "So good to see you as well, Harry, and do, call me Cornelius! No need for _you_ to stand on ceremony."

Harry smiled thinly at him. "Thank you, Cornelius."

The man fairly bristled with pride, puffing up like a fish. "Sadly, the Head Auror tells me that there haven't been any sightings recently."

Harry frowned for a moment. "Scrimgeour's not making progress then. How disappointing… Well, I hope you enjoy the demonstration, Cornelius. And of course, the members of the Board, as well." He let his eyes sweep over the people seated around him.

"Indeed, I shall." The minister glanced at Madame Hopkirk scornfully. The woman herself looked ready to burst in righteous indignation and anger.

Harry ignored them both. "Severus?"

"Would you like to set the circle or shall I?"

"Whichever you please, Severus. As always." He grinned at the potions' master and the older man rolled his eyes.

"As you say." He waved his wand and a Dueling circle appeared, drawn on the stones in the center of the hall.

Harry moved around the table and stopped in front of it. He looked out over the students, waiting for them to settle and give him their full attention. It only took a moment. "Many of you probably know what this is." He waved a hand at the markings. "For those of you who don't, it is a dueling circle. Some of you might remember the Dueling Club back when Gilderoy Lockhart was the Defense teacher. The platform that was used then is for elementary level duelists or for demonstrations of form. This is a professional dueling circle, which is used for the highest levels of magical dueling."

Harry paused a moment and Draco called out, "Scared, Potter?"

The students who remembered the Dueling Club laughed loudly and Harry grinned. "You wish." He turned to glance at Severus, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Professor Snape and I will first demonstrate what a professional duel looks like. Shall we?"

Severus nodded and moved to enter the circle. Harry did the same. Both men were dressed for dueling, but in vastly different styles. Severus was in his normal, half-length under-robe with all its tiny buttons and black trousers. Harry was wearing black dragonhide trousers and a dragonhide shirt, over which he sported a set of grey spell-resistant, sleeveless dueling robes. The two men bowed to one another. Minerva gave the count. 'Three' was still ringing through the hall when Harry and Severus moved. They began to circle each other slowly, watching for signs of movement. Their eyes were narrowed as they felt with their senses for stirring magic, in hopes of identifying any spells about to be cast. After several moments of this, the audience began to fidget and murmur. Another moment passed before Severus cast first. He snapped off a stinging hex and spun into a crouch to avoid Harry's retaliatory hex.

After that, there was very little break. Spells flew back and forth, in an almost nonstop rainbow of magic. The longer the bout continued that more complex the spells became. After ten or so minutes, both Harry and Severus began casting silently, so that even the Headmistress had difficulty identifying some of their spells.

A half an hour passed in this non-stop motion before the stalemate was broken. From the sidelines, Hermione cried out in dismay and most of the audience gasped when Severus finally managed to distract Harry with a complex magical net and then hit him with an Expelliarmus. Harry's wand went flying out of the circle. One of the twins, who were sitting at the far end of the hall, snatched it from the air before it hit the ground. Minerva stood to end the bout, but Harry raised his hand and called, "Incendio!"

A bolt of reddish orange magic shot from his palm and Severus had to dodge it quickly. "I was under the impression that you were not going to reveal that ability today." Severus sneered, panting lightly and circling Harry again.

Harry shot him a cheeky grin. "I wouldn't have, if you hadn't gotten rid of my wand."

"You might have forfeited." Harry laughed. "No, I suppose you never surrender, do you, you reckless Gryffindor?"

Harry laughed again. "I was the most Slytherin person in the school last evening, but this afternoon, I'm back to being a Gryffindor?"

"It is not my fault that your behavior has reverted back to the recklessness of your school days."

"Oh sod off. I'm going to beat you and you know it."

Severus sneered and ducked a cutting hex. "You may be capable of beating me in a formal duel, Potter, but you wait. You have too much Gryffindor in you to play truly dirty in _this_ kind of fight."

Harry laughed and stuck out his tongue, dancing sideways out of the way of a nasty bone-breaking curse. "First to land a spell before the timer sounds wins this round, yeah? Since I can't be disarmed."

Severus narrowed his eyes and circled Harry carefully. "I would not count on that, were I you."

"Severus, unless you remove my hands from my wrists, I can't be disarmed."

"There is more than one to relieve you of the use of your hands."

Harry's eyes widened and he dropped into a defensive crouch. "You never would. That's too close to the edges of allowable for a formal duel."

"Have you read the rules recently? I thought not." Severus smirked as he called a long, complex spell in a deep purring voice. Several of the girls in the crowd shifted uncomfortably.

Harry paused briefly, shivering, but it was enough. The spell, golden in color, hit Harry's outstretched left hand. Instantly his arm, from fingertip to elbow, was coated in a tight gel. He shook it and tried to stretch his fingers, but it appeared he was immobilized. Harry scowled fiercely at his hand and cursed loudly. "Fuck you, Sev. That's not fair."

The audience gasped. Severus was smirking as he examined his handiwork from afar. "It is within the rules."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Fine. You want to play it that way? Use that on me?" He gestured to Severus with his gelled hand. "You're not the only one who can, you know."

No one in the audience had any idea what the two were talking of, though Draco Malfoy had a sneaking suspicion. Harry growled at Severus' smug expression and dropped back into a defensive posture. He continued casting with his right hand for three more minutes, as Severus dodged more than he cast. The buzzer went, ending the match, just as Harry sent a bolt of aqua magic right at Severus' head. The tall man ducked hastily, but the power rippled past him, ruffling his hair. When he straightened, Severus sneered at Harry, who smirked back.

Minerva stood and waved her wand, dismantling the magic-absorption ward that had been placed between the duelers and the audience. Severus smoothed his hair and his smug smirk returned.

Harry scowled darkly at him. "You just wait."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

Madam Pomfrey came forward to heal the minor injuries they'd each sustained before Harry's wand had been taken out of the fight. Severus had to remove the curse from Harry's arm, because no one else recognized it. George Weasley came forward to give Harry back his wand, gazing at the green-eyed wizard in awe.

Harry laughed at him and sent him back to sit next to his brother. Minerva returned to her place and Harry once again addressed the students. "Normally, a formal duel like this would end when one of the duelists is disarmed. As you saw, I am quite adept at wandless magic, making it nearly impossible for Severus to disarm me. Unless of course, he literally dis-armed me, but then I couldn't teach, so that would make this all rather pointless." Some of the students chuckled at the bad pun.

"Potter, stop making inane jokes and get on with it, would you?"

"Impatient, are we? Well. What is going to happen next is an informal duel. Most of you will remember pictures in the _Prophet_ and the _Quibbler_ of battles that were fought during the Second Voldemort War. Many of you will remember the Founder's Battle that killed Albus Dumbledore and sealed the school for almost two years. Those are examples of informal duels. Any fight, using magic, against another living creature is an informal duel. There are no rules, except the rules you make for yourselves. Today, that last part is not quite true, for a couple reasons. Neither Severus nor I wish to kill or even seriously injure our opponent."

"Speak for yourself, Mr. Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes at the looks of fear that were being directed at Severus. "Ha. Ha. Very funny. I speak for both of us in saying that. Though, I'm getting closer to changing my mind about that last every time you open your mouth today, Severus."

Severus scowled at Harry. The crowd gaped. Harry laughed. "And the other reason… neither of us wish to be jailed. A no-holds-barred duel in front of the Minister for Magic himself is a very foolish thing. In informal duels it is essential to know both your surroundings and your circumstances. So, for our duel today, we will not be using any high level dark magic, which includes the Unforgivables."

A hand at the back shot up. Harry raised his eyebrows. "Whoever it is raising their hand, please stand up. I can't see you." A very tiny russet-haired girl stood, looking terrified. "What's your name?"

"Abigail Penshurst, Professor Potter. Can you actually do the Unforgivable Curses?"

Harry froze for a moment before he sighed. "Yes, Abigail. I am capable of casting all three of those curses. During the war, the Aurors and the members of the Order of The Phoenix received special dispensation, which allowed us to use those curses in extreme circumstances. We were also given a crash course in casting them. I have only ever use the Imperius, in order to passing the training course." He paused and the room held its breath. "As I was saying, other than those high level dark magics, any spell that we've learned or created is allowable in this fight."

The hall broke into frantic whispers as Harry turned back to Severus, who was watching him. Harry thought he could see concern in the depths of Severus' black eyes, but he shook away the thought. Severus blinked and turned to the High Table. "Minerva? A ward please?"

The headmistress complied. Both men immediately dropped into defensive stances and the fight began. The fighting for the first ten or so minutes seemed no different than the formal duel, but then Harry tripped. The crowd couldn't seem to decide if it was accidental, the result of a well-aimed hex, or on purpose, because instead of falling, he tucked himself into a roll and sprang to his feet, an arm's length from Severus. Harry narrowed his eyes at his opponent, throwing up a momentary shield. "You want to play, lover? Let's play." His voice was little more than a whisper, but it carried through the hall.

Severus scowled at him and sent a low-level dark curse ricocheting off the stones. Harry leapt out of its path and waved his empty left hand. Severus' under-robes vanished, revealing the white dress shirt underneath. Severus looked livid. "Damn it, Potter. You better know how to bring those back."

Harry just smirked, saying nothing, but he sent a bolt of fuchsia magic at the potions' master. Severus brought up a shield of his own and anchored it on his non-dominant hand. Taking several deep breaths and ignoring the minor curses that were bouncing off his shield, he concentrated and Harry's spell-resistant robes disappeared. Harry paused in the middle of a spell, glanced down, and scowled. "Fuck. Severus, those were expensive."

Severus smirked.

Draco, who was accustomed (to some extent) to seeing the two fight, was not as easily awed as the rest of the people watching. He was examining the rest of the audience, when the two duelists started vanishing clothing. The angry, old woman at the High Table was looking like she'd swallowed an entire bushel of lemons. When Draco noticed the missing garments, he shifted uncomfortably on his bench, wondering if this would be _that_ kind of duel. He'd seen one of those when he was little. A duel where, in order to embarrass and immobilize their opponent, each duelist began vanishing the other's clothing until they'd both ended up naked. Draco was certain that Severus would never ever forgive Harry if he pushed it that far.

Severus continued to smirk at Harry, who scowled back, until Harry's robes appeared in the potions' master's hand. He slipped into them and dropped his shield. Harry sent a high-powered cutting hex at Severus, his expression going stormy. Severus chuckled darkly and dodged it. No more clothing vanished as the fight continued.

After several more minutes of useless curses, Severus whispered a spell to his wand. An energy-whip appeared, attached to the end and dragging on the floor. Draco frowned, watching uneasily. It was certainly a high level spell, but just grey enough to be accepted. Probably. Depending on what exactly it did. Regardless, if it hit Harry, though, it was going to hurt like a motherfucker.

Harry seemed to realize this. His eyes widened and he backed up several steps, straightening out of the defensive crouch. "Severus, you know I was serious about the maim and seriously injure thing, right?"

Severus smirked. "This is a little spell of my own. It does not do what you might think. Though it was your idea in the first place."

Harry's mouth dropped open and he looked at the whip with an odd mixture of what looked like fear, awe, and something much darker. "You fucker." His voice was barely above a whisper. Giving himself a shake, Harry muttered, "Serpensortia" before Severus had a chance to brandish the whip.

Many people in the audience frowned, not understanding what on earth a snake was going to do against Severus' whip, and someone screamed. Severus on the other hand froze, took several steps back, and looked up at Harry with actual, visible horror on his face. "You would not dare."

Harry grinned venomously. "Oh, wouldn't I? You bloody well started this."

"Harry…"

The whole audience went still. There was pleading in the Potions' master's usually cold voice. A ripple of shock ran through them, as the man flicked his eyes back to the snake and took another step back.

"You should have thought of that before, shouldn't you?" Harry was grinning, prowling forward. He looked briefly at the snake, and then he looked up and spoke. In Parseltongue. Several students in the audience shivered as the sound ran down their spines. Severus was stock-still, staring at Harry.

Who continued to speak parseltongue. Severus' breathing was speeding up and he swallowed visibly. "Potter, shut up."

Harry continued speaking and Severus started throwing curses at him in desperation. His concentration was obviously off because most of them went wide. Harry dodged the ones that came his way, but never stopped speaking. This continued for several minutes before Harry managed to get up inside Severus' guard. Instead of disarming the man, Harry reached up and grabbed two fistfuls of Severus' hair, still speaking.

Severus' hand went limp and his wand slipped to the floor. As soon as he heard it clatter, Harry fell silent and let go. A moment passed without anyone moving. Severus' chest heaved and he opened his eyes to glare at Harry, clearly livid. "Of all the thoughtless, puerile, imbecilic—"

"You started it." Harry muttered, glaring back.

"You are not a child to retaliate in petulance, you little beast."

"I won. It was informal and I played it like a Slytherin."

"Fuck. You." Severus growled and spun to stalk out of the hall. He left a gaping audience in his wake. Harry stared guiltily after him.

He reached down and picked up the man's wand. Shooting Minerva a look, he followed Severus out.

He caught up with the potions' master outside his own rooms and called for him to stop. "Severus, no one knew what I was doing. I'm sure they all thought it was some evil spell that had to be incanted in Pareltongue. I'm sorry. I didn't—"

"You did that on purpose. After last night, you did that on purpose, you manipulative bastard." Severus hissed.

Harry looked affronted. He moved passed Severus and opened the door to his chambers. "I certainly did not!"

Severus pushed by him. "You just humiliated me in front of the school, the faculty, and the bloody Board of Governors and found a way to trick me back into your bed. Are you pleased with yourself?"

"Fuck! Severus, you still don't bloody get it! I don't _want_ to trick you back into bed with me! It's not about the fucking sex, okay? It never was!" He bit his tongue, before he said anything else. Sighing in defeat, he slid to the floor, just inside his doorway, resting his head on his knees. "Fine, you want me to fix the problem I created? I'll hiss at you until you come. Will that make you happy? I won't even touch you, if the idea of fucking Harry Potter is so repulsive to you."

Severus narrowed his eyes at Harry, who looked utterly defeated, sitting hunched over on the stone floor. "What do you mean, it isn't about the sex? You have been alternately trying to seduce me or talk me into your bed all blasted summer!"

Harry looked up, the expression in his eyes flat. "Yes. I have been. Because I was willing to take whatever I could get from you. Because I knew that telling you that I was in love with you would have had you running as fast as possible in the opposite direction."

Severus stared at him dumbfounded. Neither moved for several minutes, before Severus lowered himself to the floor at Harry's side. "Harry…"

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you that. And I'm sorry I used Parseltongue. I knew how it affected you. I'm sorry." He turned his face away, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to block Severus out.

"Harry, you foolish Gryffindor. Had I known…" Severus paused and shook his head. Reaching out, he cupped Harry's face between his hands. There was a curious light of fragile hope hiding in Harry's eyes, when green met black, and Severus smiled. Harry gasped. He'd never seen the older man smile before, not truly.

"Severus, what…" Harry's whisper trailed off.

Severus stroked his thumbs over Harry's cheekbones. "Harry, you may have your pick of any witch or wizard in this world. Whoever you wanted."

Harry frowned, not understanding. "And?"

Severus smiled again, painfully this time. "I am old. No, don't interrupt me. I am old, though thirty-seven is not old, by any means, for a wizard. I have lived enough in my life for several lifetimes and I _am_ old. I am broken in a way that cannot be fixed. My description of magic to your Gryffindor tag-alongs was not entirely correct. I have lived too long in the darkness and it's wormed its way into my soul. I am Dark. I am corrupt. Harry, you cannot possibly understand what it is that you ask for…You can't want this. Me…"

Harry's eyes had grown wide as Severus spoke. Harry blinked. He shook off the older man's hands. "You pushed me away, all summer, because you think _you're not good enough for me?_" His voice was cold and he narrowed his eyes to glare at Severus, who flinched. "You complete and utter bastard."

Severus opened his mouth to speak and then closed it with a snap, not knowing how to respond to that.

"You think that I should find someone young? Someone innocent and pure? Well, fuck that. I refuse to corrupt anyone with what's inside me. I don't want that. People like that don't understand. When they look at me…they see the light, the light they want to see. The light that isn't really there anymore…I may not have been a Death Eater as long as you, but I've done just as much evil as you have. I understand who and what you are, Severus Snape. And I love you all the more for it. You survived that…_hell_ that Dumbledore put you through and came out stronger and better for it. You are a good man."

Severus gaped.

"And you are _not_ old. And even if you were, I don't care. Fuck other people's rules and conventions. Why should they matter?"

A moment passed in silence, Harry's chest heaving with his indignation and Severus staring at him in awe. Finally, Severus seemed to remember how to move. He reached forward to seize Harry's face and kiss him soundly.

Harry pulled away and grinned. "Does this mean you'll fuck me again?"

Severus snorted, the tension releasing from his shoulders. "I thought it wasn't about the sex?"

Harry laughed, light and relieved. "Well, not entirely about the sex. You are the best shag I've had though. Which, my friends will tell you is certainly an accomplishment. And your math was a little wrong, or maybe my fraction was. I've had sex with thirteen people, not eleven."

Severus raised an eyebrow, willing to shelve the serious conversation they would most certainly need to have. "What is the gender ratio?"

Harry frowned and stood, pulling Severus with him. Feeling freer than he had since he'd killed Moldy Shorts. "More males than females. I've shagged…" He counted off on his fingers. "Luna, Susan Bones, Blaise Zabini, and a bit of a hurried one time thing with Fleur Delacour. All the rest were men."

Severus stared at him. "You're telling me that I am a better shag than a _Veela_?"

Harry grinned. "She's only one quarter Veela and yes. You are. Maybe I just like men better…No, but wait. Isn't Draco also part Veela?"

Severus frowned. "Yes, the same as the Delacour girl. One quarter on his father's side. But why…Oh good god."

Harry grinned ruefully. "Yeah. Well, it isn't that I just like men better then. Because you're a better shag than he is, too."

Severus gaped at him in horror. "You slept with Draco Malfoy?"

Harry nodded, looking suddenly unsure. "Um…is that a problem?"

Severus made a motion for him to shut up. "I am trying to decide whether I am completely disgusted or thoroughly impressed. Draco is…very discerning, shall we say?"

Harry laughed. "Are you kidding? That's the biggest understatement of the year. He's a frigid little priss. He'd only slept with one person before me and that was only because he refused to be a virgin at seventeen. I'm not sure why he let me take him to bed in the first place. Maybe he heard my reputation too."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Of the students who were in your rooms last night, you've slept with three of eight and dated two more?"

Harry nodded.

"Of the males that you've…had relations with, how many of them are currently students?"

"Er…" Harry frowned. "Fred, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Draco, Um…Oliver Wood isn't a student anymore. Charlie Weasley is dead. And the others were never students here."

"How on earth are you going to stay professional and teach your classes when you've slept with so many of your students?"

Harry scowled. "Thanks for that, Sev. It hadn't occurred to me." He sighed. "Are you…less agitated? We should be getting back. I'm sure Minerva wants me to address the Board and we should prove to everyone that you didn't murder me."

Severus shrugged. "Yes. Contemplating you with Ms. Bones and Ms. Lovegood has cured any problem I may have had." He said, in what Harry would have described as a prim tone of voice.

The green-eyed man managed to swallow his laughter and nodded. He motioned for Severus to lead the way back to the Great Hall.

The students still occupied their bleachers, talking loudly, though they all fell silent when Harry and Severus entered the room. Minerva turned from her conversation with Madame Hopkirk to watch them walk in. She narrowed her eyes.

Harry waved to the students and made his way up to the High Table, Severus just behind him. "I'm sorry, Minerva. I had to reverse what I'd done with the Parseltongue and return Severus' wand."

Severus bit his tongue to stop his laughter. The Headmistress nodded, her eyes still narrowed. "I was just speaking with Madame Hopkirk, who remains not entirely convinced of your suitability."

Harry raised an eyebrow and turned a charming smile on the woman in question. Severus stepped by him to speak with another member of the Board, making sure that he brushed against Harry's side as he did so. Harry shivered slightly and shot him a look. "What are your remaining concerns, Madame?" Harry asked her politely.

She sniffed. "You are arrogant, young man. Much too arrogant. You're a show-off, that's the only thing that that display showed me. Why you think you can teach your former classmates, I have no idea."

Harry's smile tightened. "Madame Hopkirk, I have no doubts that I am quite capable of instructing my former peers. I would not have agreed to do it, if I did have doubts."

Minerva squashed a smile at this. No doubts, indeed.

The old witch glared up at Harry. "You may have no doubts, but I do!"

"Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but Hermione had a question she wanted to ask you, Professor Potter." Draco Malfoy's voice carried out across the hall and the entire room fell silent. Even Severus turned to look at the Slytherin in shock.

Harry smoothed out his expression, trying to no show how stunned he was at the address. "Mr. Malfoy, of course. If you'll excuse me a moment, Madame Hopkirk." He took two steps away, but in the stillness of the hall, he had no doubt that whatever Hermione was going to ask would carry. He mentally crossed his fingers. "Ms. Granger, you had a question?"

"Professor Potter, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you were going to continue the DA. It's just that I'm going to be writing up my study schedule tonight for nights and weekends and I wanted to know if I should wait."

Harry bit his tongue to keep from laughing. They were doing this on purpose. Harry had no doubt that Hermione's study plans had been written out for weeks. He clearly had the best friends in the world. He turned to Minerva with a serious expression. "Headmistress, I don't believe we discussed this?"

Minerva shook her head. When Slytherins and Gryffindors worked together, they were all doomed. She hoped vaguely that it wasn't going to be a regular occurrence, whatever Albus and his inter-house unity efforts might say. "I don't believe the DA is necessary any longer, Harry. Un—"

"What is this DA thing you are talking about and who are these students?" Hopkirk interrupted rudely.

Minerva bristled, but Harry managed to answer calmly. Imagine that? "Madame, the DA, or Defense Association, is a student group that Ms. Granger, Mr. Ronald Weasley, and I began while we were in our fifth year. It was to overcome the limitations of the professor we had that year. We worked on practical defense."

"Please, Madame. Harry…er, Professor Potter led the group by himself. He taught us all how to cast corporeal Patroni when we were fifteen. What we learned from Professor Potter in the DA saved our lives in the Founder's Battle."

The woman looked highly affronted. "Well."

"Ma'am," Draco spoke up now. "Professor Potter is a skilled duelist and a skilled teacher. I worked with him during the war and…" A brief look of disgust passed through Draco's eyes and Harry had the feeling he was going to be paying back Draco for whatever he said next. "And under his guidance, I was able to cast spells that I would never have otherwise been able to master. His teaching skills saved my life in the war. If it was not for Professor Potter, I'm not sure I would have had the strength of character or the skill to stand up to my family."

Harry couldn't control his features. He looked visibly stunned. Severus' expression was utterly blank, no doubt hiding his complete astonishment. You could hear a pin drop, as the entire room full of people were utterly and completely still.

Madame Hopkirk looked down her nose at Draco, frowning. "And you are?"

"Draco Malfoy, Ma'am. Lucius Malfoy's only son."

She narrowed her eyes and glared for a moment. "Fine. Minerva, it would appear that I am outnumbered. I am not, however, pleased with this arrangement and I want you to make sure you keep a close eye on this one." She waved an agitated hand at Harry. "I demand regular reports."

Minerva smirked. "Of course, Helena. I planned to keep a dossier on Harry throughout the year anyway. I will merely copy and forward updates to you, each month. Now, we really must get things back to normal around here. Allow me to escort you all to the main gates so you may head home. Minister thank you so much for—" Her voice faded away as she disappeared out the main doors with all the guests trailing after her.

Harry stood gaping at Draco. Draco smirked back. "You owe me."

Harry merely nodded, still not quite believing what Draco had just done. A moment passed before the room erupted with cheers. The twins appear out of the students that crowded forward toward the High Table, and lifted Draco onto their shoulders. "A Slytherin saved the day. What is the world coming to?"

It was Draco's turn to look stunned as he was carried into the crowd and people slapped him on the back. Hermione, still standing next to Harry, watched this with amusement. "You seem to have a really good friend in him, Harry. That was all his idea."

Severus stepped up on his other side, eyeing Draco. His voice was pitched low so that only Harry could hear it. Hermione, though, was standing close enough and caught the quiet words. "Are you positive, Harry, that you would not prefer Mr. Malfoy's…company to my own? He is willing, it appears, to do much for you."

Harry turned with a raised eyebrow. "Severus, if I recall correctly, you were willing to die for me." Severus winced. "Hmm. And you are still the better fuck."

Severus scowled at him. Hermione gaped. "Harry! You had sex with Malfoy too!"

Harry winced and turned to see that some of the people in the crowd had heard her. That would be all over the school by dinner if not before. He sighed. So much for discretion. "Thank you, Hermione, for letting everyone know that." She cringed and turned to realize that indeed, if you looked, you could actually see the story spreading. "And yes, Draco and I were together for a short period of time."

Hermione glared at him and opened her mouth to speak when a bark of laughter went up from the crowd nearby and they turned. Fred and George had returned, Draco still on their shoulders. They'd obviously heard Hogwarts' newest rumor. Draco was scowling. He hopped down from his perch and glared. "Potter! I thought you weren't going to tell anyone about that!"

Harry sighed. "I didn't." He shot Hermione a pointed look. She had the good grace to look sheepish.

"How'd she know!"

Severus inclined his head. "That would be my fault, Mr. Malfoy. I did not realize that I was speaking loud enough to be overheard. My apologies."

Draco gaped at him. Fred got a sly look on his face and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could blink, however, Harry's wand was pressed to the hollow of his throat. Everyone froze. "If you reference what I suspect you were going to reference, I will personally remove your testicles, without magic, and make you eat them. Am I understood?" Fred snapped his mouth audibly and whimpered. "Good."

Harry stepped back and re-holstered his wand. Fred shuddered. George looked impressed. "Your threats have certainly gotten more effective, Harry. I wonder—"

"The same goes for you, George, you realize. Or maybe I'll castrate both of you and force-feed you each other's balls."

George's mouth snapped shut and they both back away from Harry, slowly. Severus smirked and his eyes glittered dangerously. Both twins swallowed convulsively.

Hermione frowned at them all. "Harry, as a teacher, you really shouldn't make threats like that! And Professor Snape, you shouldn't encourage him!"

Harry's eyebrows went skyward. "Hermione, you realize that you just scolded Professor Severus Snape in front of the entire school, yes?"

Hermione went pale. "Oh. Dear."

Severus' smirk deepened. "Indeed. Twenty points from Gryffindor, Ms. Granger, for your utter presumption."

Hermione nodded, stiffly and disappeared into the crowd. Harry snorted softly. "Alright, you lot. Since you're all quiet enough to hear me. Demonstration and show are over. Back to whatever you were going to do with your Saturday afternoon. I look forward to seeing you in class, starting Monday. Now shoo."

Several people chuckled, as everyone began to disperse. Minerva appeared at Harry shoulder and he flinched in surprise, but managed to not draw his wand. She eyed him. "So I presume that the Weasley Twins know of your…relationship?" She flicked a glance at Severus. "Which means the rest of your friends do as well."

Harry nodded. "They are aware that we had one. Not that we have one now. They believe that we are no longer…er…together. Is that going to be a problem?"

She shook her head. "If the entire student population knew of your relationship, it wouldn't be a problem…" she glanced at Severus again, who was scowling fiercely. "For me, anyway. As long you both act professionally."

Harry raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Are you kidding? Do you even have to say that?"

Minerva chuckled. "I suppose not. Mr. Malfoy certainly proved invaluable today."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I had no idea that he was willing to do something like that for me. He's usually such a selfish little prick."

Minerva snorted. "Harry, you can't speak like that about your students. At least, not in the Great Hall."

Harry laughed. "Alright, Minerva. You win. I'll only bad mouth the students in the classroom, to their faces. Like Severus does."

Minerva nodded agreeably. "Much better."

Harry laughed again and Severus' scowl deepened. "Well, there doesn't seem anything more for us to do here. I'll see you at dinner, Minerva, Severus. I'm going to go doubt check my lesson plans for the first week, just in case."

Minerva laughed at him as he left the hall and Severus' scowl softened.

The headmistress examined the potions' master's face as he watched Harry leave. "You really do care about him, don't you, Severus?"

The tall man snorted. "If I did not, we both would have been dead many times over."

Minerva shook her head. "No. I mean…you…you're in love with him." Severus blinked. "Does he know?"

He coughed. "Not as such…Perhaps? I honestly don't know."

She sighed. "Tell him. If not today, soon. Life's short, Severus, as I'm sure you realize. You never know what the next sunrise will bring, so live it while you can."

Severus frowned at the dire warning he felt in her simple, sad words. It struck a cord with him and left him with an uneasy feeling that he didn't entirely trust.


End file.
